AREQUIPA, Peru – In 1949, Goar Mestre, owner of the CMQ Circuit, announced plans to introduce television to Cuba within three years. However, in 1950, Gaspar Pumarejo of Unión Radio and Amado Trinidad of RHC Cadena Azul also expressed their intention to venture into that medium.
Pumarejo joined CMQ and rose through the ranks, but eventually left the company, becoming a renowned enemy of Mestre. Meanwhile, although Trinidad and Mestre seemed like an unusual couple, they forged a strategic alliance despite their differences in origin and education.
Mestre sought Trinidad’s collaboration in 1950 to confront the original owners of CMQ, Ángel Cambó and Miguel Gabriel. After eliminating them, in a controversial turn regarding his ally, Goar turned on Amado and sunk him, leaving him out of the television race.
For his part, Gaspar Pumarejo surpassed Mestre in the “competition”. On October 12, 1950, the first closed circuit test was carried out and on the 24th of that month, President Carlos Prío officially inaugurated television in Cuba with Unión Radio Televisión Channel 4.
Mestre, originally planning to launch in March 1951, had to bring forward his plans and on December 18 he inaugurated Channel 6, CMQ Televisión.
Pumarejo, born in Spain in 1913, established himself as a bold and successful businessman on Cuban television, despite the suspicion of his opponents.
Likewise, Goar Mestre became the owner of 23 companies and made his television projects come to fruition. His business success and his capital estimated at 15 million pesos highlighted him as one of the most successful and skillful businessmen in Cuba.
However, after the triumph of the Castro revolution, which became a communist dictatorship, Mestre left Cuba in 1960, and his businesses were intervened six months later.
He tried to recover in Argentina, where he organized a television production company and bought Channel 13, but this business was also intervened during the government of María Estela Martínez. Despite his efforts, he did not manage to recover in Buenos Aires the power that he lost on the Island.
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2024-02-11 21:17:00